KINGSVILLE, Texas — It took Romeo Velasquez about 15 minutes to free a trash can from a storm drain in waist deep water a few doors down from his home on Twenty-
Sixth Street in Kingsville.
It was his effort to help bring down flood water that made its way into some of his neighbors' homes but barely spared his.
“(Water) got right up to the door,” Velasquez said. “What can you think? If it’s going to come in, it’s going to come in. You can’t stop it.”
A few blocks away, Jarod Bazan awoke to ankle-deep water in his home Wednesday.
He's not sure what it's going to take to repair the damage to the house he rents, but he's keeping a positive outlook.
“Hopefully the renters insurance covers a good amount of that," Bazan said. "For now, we’re just trying to get all the water out, trying to get it dry."
While street flooding has receded, it's going to take many dry days for all of the standing water in Kingsville to absorb into the soil or evaporate.
That means there are plenty of breeding grounds for mosquitoes, so you're urged to take the appropriate precautions to avoid being bitten.
Velasquez also has some advice for the next time there's heavy rain in the forecast -- move your trash cans from the street up to your house.
"Usually when the trash cans are left out, they’ll get sucked in (storm drains)," he said. "And then you can’t get any water to drain — takes longer.”
